Tag Archives: Social Security

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Tell Congress: Women Can’t Afford Social Security Benefit Cuts


National Women's Law Center
Tell Congress: Don’t Cut Our Social Security!
Your Senators need to hear from you that jeopardizing the well-being of women and families is no way to improve the nation’s bottom line.
Call 1-866-529-7630 today!

Can women and their families afford deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?

We don’t think so. But as the President’s Fiscal Commission meets this week, deep cuts to these and other vital programs for women and their families are on the table.

We need your help to make sure these proposals don’t stay on the table — starting with joining the National Call-In Day on Social Security.

Tell Congress: Don’t Cut Our Social Security! Call your Senators NOW at 1-866-529-7630.

  • After providing your zip code, you’ll be given a choice of which of your state’s Senators to be connected with first. Call both if you possibly can!
  • Tell the person who answers the phone: I am a constituent living in [your state]. I am calling to tell the Senator to say “NO!” to cuts in Social Security benefits. Social Security benefits are especially important to women — and women’s average benefits are just $12,000 per year. Women can’t afford Social Security benefit cuts.

Why are we so concerned? Commission Co-Chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles have proposed:

  • Cutting Social Security benefits for the vast majority of beneficiaries by raising the retirement age, lowering the cost of living adjustment, and changing the basic benefit formula.
  • Shifting more Medicare costs to beneficiaries and requiring low-income Medicaid beneficiaries to pay higher co-pays.
  • Cutting overall federal funding for domestic discretionary programs by about 20 percent, jeopardizing funding for child care, education, training, and other crucial investments.
  • Relying on spending cuts, far more than revenue increases, to reduce the deficit. While some tax expenditures would be curtailed, much of that revenue would be used to cut tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and corporations rather than to protect vital services or reduce the deficit.

Bottom line — these proposals would hurt women and their families. The reductions to Social Security would disproportionately hurt women, who depend more on income from Social Security than men do. And the changes to Medicare and Medicaid would place an extra burden on women, who are the majority of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and who already spend a higher percentage of their (already-lower) incomes on health care than men.

Your Senators need to hear from you that jeopardizing the well-being of women and families is no way to improve the nation’s bottom line. Call your Senators NOW at 1-866-529-7630.

This will be a long, hard fight and we are counting on you to stand up for women and their families.

Sincerely,
Joan Entmacher Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. To find out more about the co-chairs’ Social Security benefit cuts, check out our blog.
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Pop Quiz


Pop quiz: Which of the following will make up a majority of the deficit in the next decade?

A) Social Security
B) Medicare
C) The National Park Service
D) PBS
E) George Bush’s tax cuts

Give up? The answer is E — George Bush’s tax cuts.

But this week the co-chairs of the so-called “Deficit Commission” came out with their recommendations on how to fix the deficit. Do you know what their answer was? They said they wanted to cut A, B, C and D.

That’s right — the co-chairs of the Deficit Commission said that they wanted to cut Social Security, Medicare, the National Park Service, PBS and a whole lot more. But they’re OK with leaving George Bush’s tax cuts in place even though those tax cuts are projected to make up over half of the deficit over the next 10 years.

These guys are dead wrong and it’s time Congress knew just how wrong they are — sign the pledge calling on Congress to reject the Deficit Commission’s right-wing attack on Social Security.

Add your name now

Not only are they dead wrong on how to fix the deficit, but they’re probably the only two people in the country who think it’s a good idea to cut Social Security.

On Election Day, Democracy for America polled voters nationwide on some key issues, and when asked about Social Security only four percent said they supported making cuts to Social Security.

The vast majority of Americans — 85 percent — said they don’t want any cuts to Social Security. But they don’t get a vote in the Deficit Commission, so let’s make sure Congress hears what they have to say — sign our pledge today.

Tell Congress to reject the Deficit Commission’s right-wing attack on Social Security.

DFA members told us to stand strong for Social Security. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Thank you for working to move America forward.

-Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America

Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.

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Recount Alert Updates: Good News



You never stopped fighting.

Your generosity and commitment helped us surpass our Voter Protection Efforts goal in time to get critical resources out to campaigns locked in too close-to-call races.

I’m pleased to report that two more seats were called for Democrats this week. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia and Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington are returning to Congress because you stood with us to make sure every vote was counted fairly and accurately.

But, there are still eight Democrats in the fight of their lives in too close-to-call races. In the early morning hours of the day after the Election, we dispatched legal teams and staff and have been rushing resources to their aides. But, the truth is that this may be a continuing timely and costly process, and we can’t leave these Democrats when they need us the most. We must raise an additional $100,000 by this Monday to keep up the fight.

Please rush a contribution of $5, $10 or more to help our Voter Protection efforts to keep the fight going. Your dollars to help us reach our goal by Monday will keep our teams on the ground able to stand their ground and protect our vote.

With eight races still too close to call, every dollar you contribute to our Voter Protection efforts is helping ensure we keep up the fight. We need to send more Democrats to Congress to stand with Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats in our 2012 fight, and to stand in the way of Republican plans to dismantle health care reform and Social Security.

Thank you for standing with us,

Jon Vogel
DCCC Executive Director

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hell no!


 

Social Security cuts are coming for “virtually every American alive and those yet to be born.”1

And for what? Corporate tax cuts.2

Seriously: the co-chairs of President Obama’s deficit commission want to cut Social Security benefits for everyone making more than $25,000 a year. And then lower corporate taxes to just 26%.

Every member of this commission, every member of Congress, and President Obama himself must reject these insane ideas. We’re starting an emergency petition to President Obama and his Catfood Commission to take Social Security cuts off the table.

Sign our petition to President Obama and his Catfood Commission: hands off Social Security. Click here to add your name:

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/handsoffss

The proposed cuts to Social Security are so deep, for so many people. This is a direct attack on America’s middle class for the benefit of Corporate America.

These ideas are so awful, sixteen other members of the Catfood Commission didn’t want to touch it.3 Problem is, this is the “starting point” for discussions. This will be negotiated, and many of these awful ideas could be in the final proposal. We need to stop it now.

It’s bad enough to even think about cutting Social Security – but to do it to pay for corporate tax cuts? That’s insane.

This is President Obama’s commission, and he has the power to shut it down. The other commission members can put their feet down and say no to Social Security cuts. Let’s make them do it.

Say “Hell No” to Social Security cuts. Click here to sign the petition.

Thanks for all you do to protect Social Security.

Michael Whitney
Firedoglake.com

1. Statement of Eric Kingson, Co-chair, Strengthen Social Security Campaign. 11/10/10
2. “Fiscal Commission Recommendations: VA Co-Pays, Top Tax Rate 23%” David Dayen, Firedoglake. 11/10/10 http://fdl.me/9DQmLx
3. U.S. Debt Proposal Would Cut Social Security, Taxes, Medicare. Bloomberg News, 11/10/10 http://fdl.me/aaTRoL

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BoldProgressives.org


Progressive Change Campaign Committee

 

BREAKING: The “bipartisan” deficit reduction commission — appointed by President Obama and led by millionaires — just made their ideas public. And they are ridiculous.

They recommend to Congress cutting Social Security benefits and raising the retirement age. (Shockingly, the commission of millionaires didn’t focus on raising taxes on the wealthy.)

We need to respond fast to make sure this goes nowhere. House Progressive Caucus Chair Raul Grijalva (who we just helped re-elect) has boldly organized over 100 of his colleagues to fight this proposal.

We need to show they have grassroots support. Can you join over 31,000 others in being a “citizen signer” of Grijalva’s letter? Click here.

Then, share with others — including on Facebook or Twitter.

We’ll inform Grijalva of our progress, so he can work with us to inform the media of this grassroots support.

Just today, Talking Points Memo reported on a poll we commissioned asking voters their preference on how to reduce the deficit:

  • 43% say raise taxes on the wealthy
  • 22% say cut the huge military budget
  • Only 12% say cut Social Security

Yet this “bipartisan” commission of millionaires recommends the exact opposite? Nancy Pelosi calls it “simply unacceptable.”

Help House progressives declare loudly: Cutting Social Security is simply not an option. Click to be a “citizen signer” of Grijalva’s letter — then share this email with others.

Thanks for being a bold progressive.

— Stephanie Taylor, Julia Rosen, Jason Rosenbaum, Forrest Brown, and the PCCC team

Save Social Security!